Wednesday, December 30, 2009

I’m a black-eyed pea girl when it comes to New Year’s Day fare. A big bowl of the golden legumes, made rich with ham hocks and piquant with a dose of pepper vinegar is usually my insurance that I’m off to a good start. And throw in some smoky collards and a thick slice of ham and my good fortune is tripled! But not everyone subscribes to this view. Take my New Mexican friend Monica—she’ll be eating red posole on New Year’s Day.

Remember where we were 10 years ago? Yes, we were all waving our hands and fretting over that Y2K nonsense which predicted a computer glitch would bring the world to a standstill come midnight, January 1, 2000. Living in New York City, nothing terrified me more than being stuck in a city caught in a meltdown, so I made a plan to be in Texas for New Year’s Eve 1999 instead.

“Come on down!” said Monica, who lived in Dallas. “We’re having a big bash and you’ll be safe here. Plus, I’m making red posole.”

I’d never had red posole and was a little dubious that she was serving this instead of black-eyed peas. She assured me, however, that this is what her family ate in New Mexico, not to mention it was traditional New Year’s Day fare in Mexico as well.
As she began to make the posole, she pulled out a large bag stuffed with the elegant red New Mexican chiles. They were dry but pliable and if you sniffed you could smell their fire and spice. I had never cooked with whole dried chiles before, so I was an eager student, curious to see how it was done.

She then threw into the pot the hominy or posole (as it’s known in Spanish), which gives the dish its name. These huge corn kernels have been soaked in lye water until the hull and germ have been removed, an ancient process called nixtamalization. And what’s left behind is a flavorful thick puff with enough chew and squeak to keep things interesting.

Besides our dancing like fools to Beck and Prince that New Year’s Eve, I remember how Monica’s house was fragrant with pork, chiles, garlic and corn as the posole simmered on the stove. And when the clock struck midnight and we discovered that the world was still intact, we tucked into a bowl of the rich red soup thick with hominy and looked ahead to not only a new year, but also a new decade and a new century as well.

I think we can all agree that this past decade has been challenging. But there have been many highlights for me as well, the biggest of which was starting this blog and getting to know so many of you as we've connected over our mutual love of good Texan food. And while I usually prefer black-eyed peas on New Year’s Day, I can’t help but wonder if Monica’s red posole didn’t help steer me onto this path. If so, I am eternally grateful.

So I raise my bowl to y’all for being such a bright spot in the past decade--may y’all have a peaceful, prosperous, healthy and happy New Year!

Method:
If using dried hominy, soak the hominy a gallon of water for at least eight hours until it’s doubled in size.

In a large pot, heat up the lard and cook the onion for 10 minutes. Add the pork and brown on each side for a couple of minutes. Throw in the garlic and cook for one more minute.

Pour the water into the pot and add the ham hock, oregano, cumin, ground cloves and ancho-chile powder. Bring to a boil and then turn down to a low simmer.

Meanwhile, take your New Mexican chiles and cook on high in a dry cast-iron skillet until the pop, a couple of minutes. Turn off the heat, add water to the skillet and let the chiles soak until hydrated, about half an hour.

Drain the chile-soaking liquid, and place the chiles in a blender. Add one cup of water and blend on high until a smooth puree has formed. Stir the chile puree into the soup pot.

After a couple of hours, add the hominy to the pot along with the juice of one lime and the chopped cilantro. At this point, adjust your spices and add salt to the pot. Continue to cook on low for a couple more hours.

46 comments:

I agree about the black eyed peas on New Year's Day. I make a creamy black eyed pea dish along with some stir-fried cabbage, because grandma always said cabbage was for money. :) You posole sounds lovely!! Aside from calling for lard or bacon grease (swoon,) you used pork shoulder and ham hock. That sounds like comfort food to me!

This sounds beyond awesome! I've been thinking about making posole, so the timing couldn't be better. We'll rely on black-eyed peas for luck, but will make this post haste after the new year dawns. Seriously, this looks freakin' good!

mix all plus a can of water together and simmer for 10-20 minutes.My Abuelita got lazy in her later years so this is what I grew up with and I LOVE it.

Served with a side of Lime, Radish and chopped Onions with "Bolio (bread)" torn in half.

Oh My Goodness. This year my sisters are making their first trip to Texas to spend new years with me so I have made sure a hundred times that they are bringing some Las Palmas with them cause you can't find that anywhere near Houston. (and Old El Paso is just not the same!)

This is just a great post! Well writen and that opening paragraph made me instantly hungry. I have always used canned hominy for soups and just yesterday bought some dried in a bag. I was going to make the posole recipe on the bag, but will use this one instead.

We usually have black eyed peas, and the usual accompaniments but the posole is a great idea. I've been making a similar posole for several years, since finding the recipe in Gourmet. I absolutely love the stuff, but sometimes have to add more hot sauce as the dried chiles and seeds are sometimes not as hot as we like it. I've loved hominy since I was a child in the deep south, and my personal favorite brand is Goya.

I was in Dallas for that new year too...at my sister's for a house party and we danced the night away while watching the countdown and holding our breath for the 'crisis'. Luckily, I can find blackeyed peas here in Ireland now so I'll be making my favorite soup with juniper sausage. I got it from the Statesman years ago and it is the best big pot of luck for the new year you can find. Happy New Year!

I agree with the need for the black-eyed peas.....love them from my visits to your lonestar state with the ham hocks, yummm and I'm from Northcentral WI...good wholesome food is good wholesome food. A sweet tea and I'm right thereHappy New Year andBlessings Be Yours

I made this for New Year's and it's so good I can't stay out of it. Yummy! We had to skip the ham hock since we couldn't find any anywhere (boo) but I threw in some pork bones from the freezer and it was still ah-may-zing! I also couldn't find dried hominy so we had to use canned and it was a little... gummy. I'll keep my eyes peeled for dried. I think it'd be a lot better. This is going into regular rotation around here. THANK YOU!

This pozole looks fantastic. I wonder how the spelling changed for this dish. I've only known it as pozole, but I've seen some others spell it with an "s", too. I guess because the "z" is pronounced the same as the "s" in Spanish. Anyway, the dish is beautiful. I'm not crazy about pozole (the regular kind), but this red version is quite intriguing.

I am originally from California, but have lived in Texas for 34 years now, and the black eyed pea thing just never set well with me, although, I don't remember any particular tradition from California. I do love Posole, though, and I will try this recipe, it sounds really good. I have a daughter-in-law from Argentina and their New Year's tradition is to eat one grape for each month of the year for good luck, so that is what we did this year. Next year, we will try both the grapes and the Posole!

My husband makes the very best posole ever. He's also a New Mexican and his recipe is very similar to yours. Recently, he made a batch which I think was even better than usual. We figured that the only difference was that he sprinkled in red pepper flakes while the pork pieces were browning. Could be that or that we had been almost a year since the last batch! It's too easy to make to only have at Christmastime (we use canned hominy--can't taste a difference and enjoy the ease). As another ex-pat Texan I love your blog!

This Californian is thinking like a Texan. I made a big pot of green chili last night for New Year's. I garnish it with the same: avacado, lime, fresh salsa, sour cream and some tortilla chips. The peppers are still on my fingers........I am going to try your red posole next. Thanks for posting

Ha ha I remember that year about Y2k scare alright. I was freaked out too. And waiting for the coming of midnight on New Year's Eve was filled with dread instead of the usual excitement. Lucky for us, it was all a hoax. That aside, this red posole dish looks very yummy. I could tell just by looking at it that this is the kind of hot dish that could warm freezing tummies on a frigid New Year's night.

Ok, so my parents are both from Mexico and every year we all travel to Dallas to eat some red posole makes. It is somewhat of a tradition to do this during the Christmas Holidays and everyone just loves my aunt's posole. This New Years Eve, I decided to surprise my parents and the rest of my family by using your recipe. Let me tell, it was delicious. My parents couldn't stopping eating and at the end, there was no posole left for me. Thank God I tasted it while cooking it. Thank you so much for your recipe.

Whenever a recipe takes more than a couple hours of simmering time, I prefer to make it in my slow cooker, so I don't have to keep checking on it (making sure it has not lost too much liquid, not scorching, or playing with the temp to keep the simmer consistent).

So, have you ever made this in a slow-cooker? How would you adjust this recipe for a slow-cooker?

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